The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D.D. - Volume 07 eBook

To conclude: The laudable author of this project
squares the measures of it so much according to the
scripture rule, it may reasonably be presumed, that
all good Christians in England will come as fast into
the subscriptions for his encouragement, as they have
already done throughout the kingdom of Ireland.
For what greater proof could this author give of his
Christianity, than, for bringing about this Swearing-act,
charitably to part with his coat, and sit starving
in a very thin waistcoat in his garret, to do the
corporal virtues of feeding and clothing the poor,
and raising them from the cottage to the palace, by
punishing the vices of the rich. What more could
have been done even in the primitive times!

THOMAS
HOPE.

From my House in St. Faith’s
Parish,
London, August 10, 1720.

P.S.—­For the benefit of the author, application
may be made to me at the Tilt-Yard Coffee-house, Whitehall.

THE SWEARER’S BANK.

NOTE.

The plan for the establishment of a
National Bank in Dublin was first put forward
in 1720 in the form of a petition presented to the
King by the Earl of Abercorn, Viscount Boyne, Sir Ralph
Gore, and others. It was proposed to raise
a fund of L500,000 for the purpose of loaning
money to merchants at a comparatively low rate of
interest. The King approved of the petition, and
directed that a charter of incorporation for
such a bank should pass the Great Seal of Ireland.
When the matter came up for discussion in the Irish
Houses of Legislature, both the Lords and Commons
rejected the proposal on the ground that no safe
foundation for such an establishment could be
found. (See note post.)

During and after the discussion on
this project in the legislature a pamphlet controversy
arose in which two able writers distinguished
themselves—­Mr. Henry Maxwell and Mr. Hercules
Rowley. The former was in favour of the bank
while Mr. Rowley was against it.

Mr. Maxwell argued soundly from the
ground on which all banking institutions were
founded. Mr. Rowley, however, pointed out that
the condition of Ireland, dependent as that country
was on England’s whims, and interfered
with as she always had been, by English selfishness,
in her commercial and industrial enterprises, would
not be bettered were the bank to prove even a great
success. For, should the bank be found in
any way to touch the trade of England, it might
be taken for granted that its charter would be repealed,
and Ireland find itself in a worse state than it was
before.

The pamphlets written by these
gentlemen bear the following titles:

(1) Reasons offer’d
for erecting a Bank in Ireland; in a letter to
Hercules Rowley, Esq., by Henry Maxwell,
Esq. Dublin, 1721.

(2) An Answer to a Book, intitled
Reasons offered for erecting a
Bank in Ireland. In a Letter to Henry
Maxwell, Esq. By Hercules
Rowley, Esq. Dublin, 1721.